Fantastic, upsetting, provocative. This is what it says on the tin--Schroeder goes in a killing spree and we're along for the absolutely fucked up ride. I found Schroeder himself to be complex in his depravity and sadness, loved the set up to each chapter with each of the pictographs, and found the stream of consciousness writing reflective of Schroeder's mental state.

This obviously has quite a bit of gore, but I found it well-described and engaging.

I read this as an e-book and do think that reading it physically would be even more engaging. The e-book for me was just free flowing text. I think the very conscious decisions in structure would be more impactful on paper.

Thank you NetGalley for the incredible ARC.

The stream of consciousness writing was difficult for me to get into, but this character was so utterly bonkers in the darkest ways that my curiosity won out and I continued. This was unique, unsettling. It's slow and intense and suspenseful all at the same time.

*spoilers*

I did not know what to expect when picking up this book, but ultimately Schroeder did not disappoint.

It was hard to root for the protagonist for much of this book as he went down his list. Especially since you had no idea why these people were hand-picked for misfortune. The authors use of stream-of-consciousness throughout worked well with this. Although it was easy to follow, Schroeder’s thoughts felt chaotic, often too-detailed, and at times, too perfectly clear.

Schroeder’s social critiques were often spot-on, however, as I’m sure it was intended, his warped perspective projected onto everything and everyone that crossed his path.

What I didn’t like was how often the story fell into a cliche. At times, it made the story one-dimensional. I was pulled out of the narrative when dialogue or plot was too exaggerated. (For example: the father and son playing catch and ending with a hug and a kiss or the kids at the keg party in the middle of the afternoon hitting every high-school stereotype in one fell swoop).

To expand on this, Schroeder’s diary was typical of what you would see in an after-school special depicting domestic/child abuse, but the issue is so much more layered than what is given here. It also seemed so unbelievable (as the reader) to witness Schroeder and his mother being treated the way they were by the principal, and Schroeder’s co-workers. I have never encountered such a concentrated group of cruel human beings. And, the two big question: How did it take so long for someone to find him? What are the odds that everything went so according to plan? I was waiting for a wife or boyfriend or even some kids to be home, maybe someone willing to fight a little bit harder for their life.

However, I could understand if this was all done purposely. And in the end, regardless of the tropes, you feel for Schroeder when he speaks of his mother and holds her urn in his arms. Even the journal entries make their point. In a few sentences, Schroeder lays out all the ways a human can be hurt in this world and it is hard not to hurt with him and for him. By the end of his story, you are empathizing with the killer. Schroeder is humanized. And because of this, I feel this novel is worth the read.

Wow. I really enjoyed this book. This writer knows what he is doing. Basically the premise is your in this person's mind and you are following him around while he commits horrible acts to others. You get small clues through the book on why he is committing these acts and how's he feels about the world. Highly recommend. Really till the end.

I thought the psychological thriller element in this book worked so well. I thought the use of social commentary really added to the story and of the realism of the characters. I enjoyed getting to know this world and characters. Neal Cassidy has a great overall concept of the genre and it shows in the writing, I’m excited to read more from Neal Cassidy.

This book was something else! I wasn’t sure how I feel about it as I was reading it and then at the end, I was blown away. Schroder wakes up one day in his normal seemingly normal life, in his normal neighborhood, and it seems like he’s going to go about his normal day. He gets on his bike and goes to a store. There, he kills to men. From there, he goes on a killing spree cycling to different locations.

This is not your typical book. If you ever wanted to get inside the mind of a killer on a spree, this is the kind of book you may want to read. Though, the mind may not be what you think. Written in stream of consciousness, you’ll get the description of his surroundings, and yes, the description of the kills. Some of them a little more gruesome than the others.

I did struggle a bit with the author’s choice of how it was written. I didn’t understand that choice other than to really get into Schroeder’s mindset. It felt very rumbled with the run on sentences.

What really got me, and what really made this book come together, were the diary entries at the end. It changed my whole perspective of the book, of Schroeder himself. The progression and growth of Schroeder was seen through the entries as well as his hope. That really was the perfect touch.

Picked this up on a whim from Netgalley and loved it.
Instead of seeing all the thrilling crazy things a killer is up too from the victim or the investigator, you are getting the story from the killers POV.

I enjoyed that switch up, it was refreshing.
This was such a fun but imo fast paced thriller and I need more written like this.
Is this random, is there a pattern and why...
Why is a killer?